General Motors, Toyota and Ford said US sales this month probably will rebound on deferred purchases and replacement demand after Hurricane Sandy disrupted auto purchases in October.

All automakers missed analysts’ average estimates for US sales after the superstorm slammed the East Coast during the industry’s busiest time of the month. The three top-selling automakers in the US said they expect a boost in November from owners swapping damaged vehicles and from would-be buyers who couldn’t make it to flooded showrooms.

“Anybody who reads these numbers as ‘the industry is softening’ is incorrect,” Michelle Krebs, an analyst for researcher Edmunds.com, said. “Sales that didn’t occur on the Coast in the days before, during and in the wake of the storm “will be made up, and there probably will be a plus side after that.”

Sandy put a halt to car-buying activity at about 1,000 auto retailers in New York and New Jersey alone, dealership consultant Urban Science said.